Tillers of the land

AUG 08 -

Land reform is a life or death issue for millions of people, but the outcome depends on the political will of governments to sincerely implement a genuine land reform agenda. Nepal and Japan started the land reform debate at the same time around 1945. But in Japan, land reform was successful within four years, due to which it became an industrialised nation. In Nepal, however, the government and political parties have not been honest in fulfilling the demands of the people (Land to the tillers), and as a result, Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world, trapped in the vicious cycle of discrimination, poverty and conflict. 

Some say that “agriculture should be commercialised”, but it is impossible to commercialise the farms due to the lack of land ownership by genuine farmers. The idea seems well-intentioned, but the question remains of who will benefit from the commercialisation of agriculture. In the present scenario, the poor are landless and must till others’ land for their livelihood. If commercialisation of agriculture occurs before land reform, this will contribute to furthering the gap of poverty between landholders and tillers of the land.

Land reform was implemented in West Bengal and Kerala before commercial farmers came to be. It not only changed economic conditions, but it also drastically improved their social independence and participation in politics. As a result, all of the farmers became self-reliant. From 1983 to 1995, West Bengal ranked first among the world’s 50 best cities. Mainly, land reform brought changes in food production and power relations. First, it provided identity cards to sharecropping farmers, and based on identity cards, it made policies and provisions to provide them land. This changed the power structure at the local government level. Those who could not register were also secured from being excluded. Even a few landlords happily gave land to the sharecroppers.

In West Bengal, land reforms not only converted the farmers into landowners, but it also enabled them to buy more land. Those who had less than one acre of land were eligible to acquire land. Laws were implemented that stated that everyone should have more than one acre of land. In this way no one was excluded from land rights. Those who had large plots of land started selling at lower prices. This controlled the market. Using a legislative method enabled even smaller areas of land to become more productive; additionally, irrigation and new technology started being used. Agricultural cooperatives were also introduced, which helped the farmers to become more commercial.   

In Kerala, for land reforms, three main approaches were used: (1) elimination of absentee landlords by law, thus effectively abolishing the upper caste and Hindu landlord system; (2) guaranteeing tenant’s rights; and (3) by guaranteeing shelters for farm labour and distribution of land so that farmers were not dependent on the landlords. The land reforms, which started with these approaches, enabled farmers to become house owners. It also nearly abolished racial discrimination and enabled them to enjoy social services such as education, health care, food security and high wages, including livelihood security.

In Nepal, most INGOs, NGOs and sister organisations of political parties are raising the issues of women, Janajati and Dalit rights, but the issue of land reform has not been a priority, although it is a major issue for poverty alleviation and economic empowerment. In South Africa, those who did not want land reforms raised racial issues between different ethnic groups, which shadowed land reform issues. The same thing is happening in Nepal, where the middle class are focusing on identity issues rather than economic ones, such as land reform and rights to natural resources.

Land reform was first introduced in Nepal by the late king Mahendra after removing the elected government with the help of military power in order to justify the absolute monarchy he introduced in 1964.  However, one of the major objectives of the regime was to bring down the campaign of the landless farmers. According to the census of 1961, 65 percent of farmers owned only 15 percent of the land, whereas 3.7 percent of the landlords owned 39.7 percent. During this period, more than 50,580 hectares of land above land ceiling could be taken, whereas the government only took 21,554 hectares. Of the 21,554 hectares, the government distributed only 64 percent of the land with the remaining left for the landlords. After that, no efforts have been made to take that land back from landlords, resulting in the rural economy being controlled by them. Those who do not have alternative options for their livelihood are still unable to come out from under the landlord, and thus their livelihood and rights are still dependent on others.

In order to reduce the poverty gap between rural and urban areas, it is essential to industrialise rural areas, as well as provide livelihood security and social justice to the landless and tenant farmers. Land reform is directly linked to Nepal’s economy and positive growth for all. The gravity of the many land reform issues should be analysed, discussed and acted upon with the needed political will of the government, ruling parties, donor agencies, INGOs/NGOs, social institutions and the business sector, including all of civil society. This is the basis of the fight to end poverty and social discrimination and establish sustainable peace and development in the country.

jagat.basnet@gmail.com

Source: http://www.ekantipur.com/2012/08/08/oped/tillers-of-the-land/358439/